Tales of adventures in mediocre mothering and travelling with children

Appropriate ways to shut that kid up.

I was watching The Project the other night and was slightly horrified that it was deemed OK to give children Phenergan in an attempt to make a long haul flight more pleasant for the parents. Phenergan is a drug which makes most children drowsy and thus much more controllable. But in a parental roll of the dice, it can have the opposite effect and send kids into a hyperactive state, which I was glad to hear actually happened to one of the presenters when he dosed his kid up on an intercontinental flight.

I’d be a consummate liar if I said I’d never thought of drugging my child on an intercontinental flight; I’ve thought of giving them Panadol just to calm them down on the way to the shops. But I’ve never done it, and I don’t think I ever could. The idea of giving them a little tablespoon of sleep serum is much more appealing than actually doing it. Much like the idea of dosing myself up with coffee to get through the afternoon/evening witching hour is appealing, but then I’d be up til midnight twiddling my thumbs or wondering what piece of housework to do first in the morning. The concept is good, but surely it’s not going to be good for me in the long run.

And I think the same applies to drugging your kid on long flights and car trips. There is a better way and it’s called an Ipad, a DVD, a book or heaven forbid, some conversation. But if you want some more ideas on how to avoid your Phenergan dosing days being relegated to “The List of Awful Things Mum Used To Do To Us” you can read it my upcoming ebook (eek!): “Making Long Distance Travel With Your Children Enjoyable:Sensible Advice For Infanticide-Free Trips.”

Seriously, I wrote a whole 14 thousand+ words on how not to drug your kids on long trips. It’ll be published within a few weeks and for $3.99 (half the price of a magazine and with more actual content) you can learn how travelling in a confined space can be fun, not full on.

And if you doubt my ability to travel infanticide-free with two young children on a road trip for a realllly long time, then read this: The Coburg Peninsula.